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Posts for: September, 2013

When you or a family member takes a traumatic hit to the mouth, what should you do? Besides immediate first aid, your next action will depend on the extent of damage to any teeth. What you do and when you do it may even determine whether an injured tooth is eventually saved or lost.

If a tooth has been completely knocked out, you have about five minutes to replace the tooth in the socket to give it the best chance of reattachment and long-term survival. While we can certainly perform this action in our office, getting to us within five minutes may not be possible. Fortunately, any person can perform this action on site (see the article linked below for basic instructions on replantation). If for some that's not possible, you should control bleeding at the tooth site with direct pressure, place the recovered tooth in milk or the patient's saliva, and see us as soon as possible.

If, however, the injured tooth has been obviously knocked out of line but not completely detached from its socket, you have a small cushion of time to seek dental treatment — but not much. For this degree of injury, you should see us within six hours of the incident. We will be able to determine the exact nature of the injury, and treat the condition by moving the teeth back into proper position and splinting them.

You have up to twelve hours for broken or chipped teeth still in their normal position. Try to locate and save any broken-off fragments — it may be possible to re-bond them to the teeth. Although it may not be as urgent as other situations, you should still seek treatment as soon as possible. A broken tooth could leave the inner pulp exposed — a situation that left untreated could lead to eventual tooth loss.

Traumatic injuries to the mouth can have serious consequences for your long-term dental health. With our consultation and treatment efforts, we can help you save an injured tooth.

If the words “root canal” frighten you, what you probably don't know is that “root canal treatment” doesn't cause pain, it alleviates it — by treating infection deep in the root of your tooth.

What is a root canal? The central chamber of a tooth contains the living vital tissues comprising the pulp including its nerves and blood vessels. The interior of the tooth's roots containing the pulp make up its root canals.

How do I know if a tooth has a root canal infection? Symptoms of root canal infection may include sharp, intense pain when you bite down, a dull ache or pressure, or tenderness and swelling in gums near an infected tooth. There may be lingering pain after eating cold or hot foods. However, sometimes an infected tooth may stop hurting and you no longer feel pain. This doesn't mean the infection has gone, only that the nerve may have died. Make an appointment if you suspect that you have any or some of these symptoms.

Why would a tooth need root canal treatment? If the tissues in the root canal/s become infected or inflamed because of deep decay or trauma to a tooth, root canal treatment is needed to treat the infection and save the tooth. If left untreated, root canal infection can spread into the bone immediately around the root.

What takes place in a root canal procedure? After a local anesthetic is administered to numb the tooth and surrounding area, a small opening is made in the biting surface for a back tooth, or behind a front tooth. Dead and/or dying tissue is removed from the pulp chamber and the root canals are cleaned, disinfected, and sealed to prevent future infection.

What can I expect afterwards? Your tooth may feel tender or sensitive for a few days. You can take over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, aspirin or ibuprofen, for example, to relieve pain or discomfort. Contact us if you have pain that lasts more than a few days. A crown is usually needed to protect the tooth following root canal treatment. Further arrangements need to be made for this stage of the procedure. Don't chew on the affected tooth until symptoms subside and the tooth has been restored as necessary.

Who performs root canal treatment? While all general dentists have received training in endodontic treatment and can perform most endodontic procedures, in complicated situations you may be referred to an endodontist, a specialist in root canal diagnosis and treatment.

A crown is a common type of dental restoration that has been available, in different forms, for a long while. When properly done, it may last for decades — and if desired, it can be made to match the shade of the natural teeth so well that it's nearly impossible to tell them apart. Some recent technological innovations may offer patients who need this treatment even more choices. To begin learning about dental crowns, let's start with five facts everyone should know.

Crowns are a type of restoration that can solve many dental problems.

There are many factors that may cause the structure of a tooth to become compromised. It can be weakened by grinding or chipping, gradually removed by repeated dental fillings, or suddenly broken by trauma. Sometimes, a more conservative treatment (like inlays or veneers) may be enough to take care of the problem. When it isn't, the missing tooth structure can be replaced by a crown.

Crowns replicate the form and function of natural teeth.

Because they must fit into your mouth perfectly and match your bite exactly, each crown is an individually-crafted item, made just for you. That means the form of a crown must look just like the tooth it replaces — before it was damaged. And, especially if it's for a front tooth, a crown is often carefully designed to match the particular shade of your teeth. If you are unhappy about the color of your other front teeth, tooth whitening should be done first before your new crown is created to get the best results possible.

Crowns can be made of different materials.

For over a hundred years, crowns have been made of gold. While this extremely long-lasting material remains popular, its use has been declining recently due to aesthetic factors. Two tooth-colored alternatives are all-porcelain and porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns. The exact shade and luster of these substances can be made to closely simulate the natural teeth. Each has advantages and disadvantages in particular situations but we will be happy to make recommendations as to what is in your best interests.

New technologies are changing the way crowns are prepared.

Advances in the field of materials science have led to crowns being fabricated from more durable high-tech substances, like ceramics made of zirconium dioxide. And the availability of small-scale computer-aided design and manufacturing technologies means that in some situations, it's possible for a crown to be fabricated right in the dental office, in minutes. Undoubtedly, these technologies will continue to improve in the future.

Delivering a quality crown is a blend of science and art.

No matter how high-tech the process becomes, producing a fully functional, long lasting and natural-looking crown remains a blend of aesthetics and science, seasoned with a healthy dose of clinical experience. It's also a team effort involving a skillful dentist, a talented dental laboratory technician and a knowledgeable patient — you.

Smiling feels great and makes others feel good as well. But if you are self-conscious about exposing teeth that are showing imperfections or excessive wear, you may not be smiling as broadly as you should be. Fortunately, there are ways to correct the esthetic issues that might be holding you back. One involves covering the natural tooth partly or completely with a natural-looking but flawless “facade.”

Perhaps you've heard about dental veneers and crowns? Both can achieve similar, eye-pleasing results by changing the shape and color of your teeth and even helping to compensate for uneven spacing or alignment. And both are custom-designed for your teeth. So what's the difference and which is right for you?

One distinguishing feature is the amount of tooth each covers. A veneer is a wafer-thin layer of dental porcelain that bonds to the front of your tooth. A crown, also fashioned from dental porcelain, fits over and covers the entire existing tooth, like a hood, right down to the gum. With either approach, to ensure the best, most natural fit, some of the natural tooth structure must be reduced by a minimal amount. In the case of veneers, up to 1 mm of tooth enamel — about the thinness of a fingernail — is removed. Crowns are generally thicker than veneers, so in their case the removal of at least 2 mm of tooth is needed.

Another difference between veneers and crowns is the situations in which one might be more suitable than the other to achieve the desired results. For example, a crown may be necessary when too much tooth structure has been lost to decay or other problems, or for use on back teeth that have to withstand greater impact from biting and chewing. A dental professional can make a recommendation based on your goals, the condition of the tooth or teeth in question, and other factors.

Either way, both veneers and crowns are an excellent solution for a range of esthetic concerns — from poor tooth color/staining, chips and cracks, and excessive wear at the bottom of teeth (from bruxism, a term for teeth grinding) to making small teeth look larger, closing minor gaps between teeth, and making slight corrections in alignment.